True North Initiative News Scan 03 21 2018

TOP STORIES

Canadian journalist abused and threatened for slamming Khalistanis, liberals and feminists maintain silence

Canadian journalist Candice Malcolm, who was amongst the first to break the story of Khalistani terrorist Jaspal Atwal being part of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s entourage during his visit to India, has claimed she is being harassed by pro-Khalistan activists on Twitter. In a tweet posted by Malcolm where she talks about Canadian Sikhs dancing on bhangra beats in snow being her favourite thing on the Internet. However, she claims she has been called ‘racist’ for calling out Trudeau and his soft stand against the Khalistanis. (OPIndia)

PCO says it was unaware Boyle was under investigation before Trudeau meeting

The Privy Council Office says it was not aware former Taliban captive Joshua Boyle was under police investigation before he and his family met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The information from PCO was obtained via an order paper question submitted to the House of Commons by Conservative MP Jamie Schmale. “The Privy Council Office was made aware on January 1st, 2018, that Joshua Boyle had been arrested and charged by the Ottawa Police Service for several Criminal Code offences,” it reads. (IPolitics)

Justin Trudeau Approval Rating Now Below President Trump as Right Wing Parties Surge In Canada

The popularity of Canadian Liberal Party Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is on a steady decline as his approval ratings have fallen below U.S. President Trump in polls as right-wing parties surge across the country. Data from polling firm Angus Reid shows that 56 per cent of Canadians now disapprove of Prime Minister Trudeau while only 40 per cent approve, while polling firm Rassmussen shows U.S. President Donald Trump with a 47 per cent approval rating. The polling figures for the Canadian Prime Minister is a stark contrast to only a year ago when 54 per cent of Canadians approved of the actions taken by his Liberal government. (Breitbart)

Canadians disapprove of Trudeau’s trip to India, poll suggests

A majority of Canadians say Justin Trudeau’s recent trip to India was not a success, a new poll shows, as the Opposition Conservatives call on the Prime Minister to apologize for the diplomatic debacle in the House of Commons. A new Nanos/Globe and Mail survey found that more than three-quarters of Canadians view Mr. Trudeau’s trip to India last month as not a success or somewhat not a success, with only 12 per cent of respondents saying it was a success or somewhat a success. (Globe and Mail)

An Ontario man who once belonged to a Palestinian terrorist group was ordered deported in 2005. He’s still here.

Issam Al-Yamani owns a gray brick house in suburban Mississauga, across the street from an elementary school. A yellow mini school bus is parked in his driveway, awaiting the morning rounds. The government will not say why Al-Yamani is still in Canada. The Immigration and Refugee Board ordered his deportation in 2005 for having been a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. (Global)

World View: Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board Overwhelmed by Migrants Crossing Border from U.S.

Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) has become so overwhelmed by refugees making asylum claims that it is giving up on following regulations requiring refugee hearings to be held within a certain time. Regulations drawn up in 2012 required the IRB to hold hearings with 30-60 days, depending on the country of origin. The system began breaking down in January 2017, when U.S. president Donald Trump began cracking down on illegal immigration and also announced that legal immigrants having a Temporary Protected Status (TPS) would have that status expire. In addition, the status of the “dreamers,” those who were brought to the country as children years ago by their parents, was in doubt. (Breitbart)

A man convicted in India in the so called "honour killing" of Jaswinder (Jassi) Sidhu became a permanent resident in Canada while on parole. The revelation — the latest twist in a story that dates back to a notorious slaying in the Punjab in 2000 — is laid out in a recent federal court ruling. According to documents filed in the case, Darshan Singh Sidhu became a permanent resident on May 4, 2008, when he landed at Vancouver International Airport along with his wife and son. He was on parole at the time after being convicted, in India, of murder three years earlier. (CBC)

Liberals propose tightening Canada's firearms law with new record-keeping practices

The Liberal government hopes to tighten Canada's firearms law with changes to the background check system and new mandatory record-keeping practices for vendors. Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale tabled Bill C-71 on Tuesday, which includes new provisions to "enhance" existing background checks for those seeking a firearms license. Those checks will now demand the RCMP examine a person's entire life history for potential red flags. The current standard assesses only the previous five years. (CBC)

Federal government to launch Canada-wide consultations on systemic racism

Ottawa is set to launch pan-Canadian consultations on racism, a topic that has stirred controversy and divisions across the country in recent months. The exact form and nature of the consultations is still being developed in the Department of Canadian Heritage and has yet to be unveiled to the public. Still, the government said it wants to create a new strategy to counter “systemic racism” and religious discrimination. (Globe and Mail)

Terrorism Case Highlights Risk of Returning Fighters Funding ISIS

In spring 2016, an alleged Islamic State fighter named Ahmed Musto returned from Syria, settled into a business processing tobacco for hookah pipes in the Bulgarian capital and started a family, according to court documents and Bulgarian authorities. Last September, authorities raided the business and arrested Mr. Musto. Far from leaving the militant group behind, Mr. Musto sent proceeds from the business to Islamic State in Syria, according to law-enforcement officials. (WSJ)

Faith Goldy talk at Wilfrid Laurier University shut down by fire alarm after protest

Just before far-right commentator Faith Goldy could take the stage to speak at Wilfrid Laurier University on Tuesday evening, the fire alarm started to ring. A packed room with a capacity of 125 people was cleared and the student event, which has been criticized by some students and faculty since it was announced less than a week ago, was halted before it could start. Prof. William McNally, who booked the room for the event, was in the middle of welcoming the crowd when the fire alarm rang. He called the action “really juvenile and irresponsible” to a crowd of cheers. (Toronto Star)

The Canadian data scientist who admitted to helping political parties score electoral wins by exploiting the private information of millions of Facebook users also oversaw a short-lived pilot project for the federal Liberals shortly after the 2015 election, The Canadian Press has learned. Christopher Wylie came forward in recent days with accusations that a voter-profiling company improperly harvested Facebook data from some 50 million users in order to help seal victories for the Trump campaign and in the U.K.'s Brexit referendum. (CTV)

The export of over 900 armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia, including some outfitted for "heavy assault," falls in line with Canada's foreign and defence policies, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday. He was responding to NDP attacks in the House of Commons over new details of the $15 billion 2014 contract. CBC News obtained documents which outline — for the first time — specifics of the agreement involving General Dynamics Land Systems, of London, Ont. (CBC)

Duterte hits 'stupid' Canada over botched chopper deal

President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday slammed Ottawa over a $233-million chopper deal that did not push through after some Canadian politicians questioned the purchase amid reported human rights violations in the Philippines. (ABS)

Elizabeth May Explains Why She Sides With Tories On Summer Jobs Dispute

Elizabeth May says the Liberal government overreached by attaching a clause on abortion rights to summer job funding applications, even though she agrees groups that "harass" women shouldn't receive government support. "To insist on an attestation of values was a really serious mistake and a very bad precedent," the Green Party leader told HuffPost Canada Tuesday. (Huffington Post)

Doug Ford is finding traction with Ontario voters by talking about government accountability, affordability and cutting waste, suggests a new survey examining why the PC party is ahead in the polls. At the same time, Premier Kathleen Wynne’s key talking points — boosting the minimum wage and pharmacare — appear at the bottom of a list of priorities for the electorate, says Campaign Research based on its recent poll of voters. (Toronto Star)

Sajjan says Mali needs private sector investment to rebuild

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan says business investment has a role to play in helping war-torn countries like Mali recover from conflict. Broader economic development is needed to help such countries, he says, because the military can't do it on its own. Sajjan's assessment comes as Canada's newly established development finance institution has announced its first private sector partnership. (CBC)

Canada's privacy watchdog has launched an investigation into Facebook after a series of media reports alleged that private online information belonging to millions of Americans was obtained by a company working on U.S. President Donald Trump's election campaign. (CBC)

'YOU'RE A VERY RUDE MAN': Freeman on the Land bickers with judge

When Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Sterling Sanderman walked into an Edmonton courtroom Tuesday morning, everyone assembled stood up — except for the accused. It is customary for people in a courtroom to rise when a judge enters, and to only sit down once court is called to order. But Allen Nelson Boisjoli, a self-proclaimed Freeman on the Land facing an allegation he used “paper terrorism” as a way to intimidate the legal system, argues the province’s superior court has no jurisdiction over him. The Freeman on the Land movement generally espouses the view that all government and related rule of law is illegitimate. (Edmonton Sun)

Austin bombings: Suspect dead after detonating device, police say

A suspect linked with a series of deadly parcel bombs targeting Austin, Texas, is dead after a major police operation, officials say. The suspect was killed after detonating a device when officers approached his car off an interstate highway in the Round Rock area of the state capital. FBI agents are reportedly now carrying out an investigation at the scene. (BBC)

Border patrol agents are refusing to hand over illegal immigrants with felony warrants to police in California because they can’t be sure local authorities will return the criminal aliens to federal custody, according to a top border security official in San Diego. Rodney Scott, the chief patrol agent in the Border Patrol’s San Diego Sector, said earlier this month that California’s statewide sanctuary law was undermining normal cooperation between his agency and local law enforcement. (Daily Caller)

Three illegal immigrants, who avoided capture after Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf blew the whistle on a raid by federal immigration authorities last month, have since been re-arrested for new crimes including robbery and spousal abuse, ICE officials said. Schaaf tweeted out a warning ahead of the raid in northern California last month, infuriating Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials and the Trump administration. (FOX)

Despite warning signs, Trump says Republicans can keep House

Despite signs that Democrats are in a strong position, U.S. President Donald Trump vowed on Tuesday to beat expectations and keep the House of Representatives in Republican control in the mid-term elections in November. Trump, who won an improbable victory in 2016 as an outsider, spoke at a National Republican Congressional Committee dinner in Washington that raised a record $32 million for Republican House candidates. (Yahoo)

Israel admits striking suspected Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007

Israel's military has formally admitted that it destroyed a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007. It said the air raid in the eastern Deir-al-Zour region had removed "an emerging existential threat to Israel and the entire region". It said the reactor was close to being completed. It has long been thought Israel was responsible, but it never acknowledged this until now. (BBC)

Sikh Youth Being Trained At ISI Facilities In Pakistan, Says Government

The Home Ministry has told a parliamentary panel that Sikh youths are being trained at ISI facilities in Pakistan to carry out terror activities in India, and members of the community who are settled in Canada and other places are also being instigated against the country with false and malicious propaganda. Top officials of the home ministry, led by the Union Home Secretary, told the Committee on Estimates, headed by senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, that radicalisation of youths by terrorist groups through the misuse of internet and social media has emerged as a big challenge. (NDTV)

Close Trump Ally Calls For Iran Regime Change Policy

At a time when Iran is experiencing unprecedented political, economic and social turmoil with protesters across the country demanding sweeping changes, the international scene is looking even more bleak for Tehran. The Trump administration is undergoing a major reshuffling, with analysts believing Iran is becoming a significant focal point. The core understanding pivots around the mentality that there no longer remains any doubt that Iran poses the main threat to peace and security in the Middle East. (Forbes)

On last night's show, Toronto Sun Columnist Candice Malcolm joined me to discuss NDP leader Jagmeet Singh's ties to a radical Sikh nationalist rapper. Singh has already been criticized for attending Sikh rallies that glorify terrorists and promote breaking up India to form of an ethnonationalist Sikh state called Khalistan. (Rebel)

Ezra Levant: Canadians “have no interest” in Mali

On last night's show, I reported on Justin Trudeau's plan to send 250 Canadian troops to Mali, and explained why this mission is of no interest to Canada. Of the more than 200 countries in the world, Mali is one of the most dissimilar to Canada. There is little immigration between Canada and Mali; imports from Mali totalled less than a million dollars; it's 90 per cent Muslim — and much of the country is run by terrorists or bandits. (Rebel)

Aaron Wudrick: Balanced budgets still matter to Canadians

When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals ran on a platform of deficit spending in the last federal election, many pundits wondered aloud whether the public would go for it. The Conservatives (in spite of having just inched their way back to balance after six consecutive deficits) were promising to keep the books in the black. Even the NDP, which for the first time entered a federal election on more or less equal footing with the other main parties, had committed to keeping budgets balanced. (Toronto Sun)

Lorne Gunter: The bloom is beginning to come off the Trudeau rose

Justin Trudeau’s farcical trip to India was a disaster for him and the Liberals, but not because the Canadian delegation managed to get a former attempted murderer invited to an official Canadian reception in Mumbai. That was a major flub, for sure. (Toronto Sun)

Toronto Sun: Voters unimpressed with Trudeau’s India roadshow

It should surprise no one that Justin Trudeau’s India hijinks left a sour taste in the mouths of Canadian voters. A new Angus Reid poll reveals more than half of Canadians (51%) think it’s time for a change in government, the fourth quarter in a row that sentiment has risen. Trudeau’s own approval numbers have plummeted, especially among those aged 35 and older, to the point most Canadians (56%) for the first time now disapprove of him. (Toronto Sun)

OK, so if the Liberals send helicopters and a 250-person detachment of support troops to Mali on a United Nations peacekeeping mission it may not be a disaster on the scale of Rwanda, a scandal to the degree of Somalia or a gesture of incompetence like the “bungle in the jungle” in the Congo. But it will be emblematic of a Liberal government that makes up the military and security intelligence that it wants to hear and that bases its military and security decisions on political correctness and not sound planning. (Ottawa Sun)